A vital new volume exploring the history of Virginias free Black population prior to emancipation.
On the eve of the Civil War, around 60,000 Black men, women, and children lived free in the state of Virginia, often alongside enslaved neighbours. This volume is a history documenting the richness and variety of their lives. Although many stayed in Virginia, living, working, and thriving despite serious threats to their lives, some moved north or, further still, across the Atlantic to Liberia. In studying the lives of free Black Virginians prior to emancipation, this volume explores an under-told and inspirational story of Virginias past.
By delving into collections across the Commonwealth, whether the records of the state or testimonies left by free Black people themselves, this new volume fills a critical gap in our understanding of Virginias Black history.
Publication accompanies an exhibition at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, June 14, 2025 April 4, 2027.
Foreword by James W. Dyke, Jr., former Virginia Secretary of Education,
Tim Sullivan, president emeritus, College of William & Mary, and Alvin J.
Schexnider, former interim president, Norfolk State University
Acknowledgements by Jamie O. Bosket, president & CEO, Virginia Museum of
History & Culture
Introduction by Dr Elizabeth M. Klaczynski, associate curator, Virginia
Museum of History & Culture
Black Freedom in Slaveholding Virginia by Melvin Patrick Ely
The Christian Faith and Legacies of Liberation in Virginia's Free Black
Society by Evanda S. Watts-Martinez
Free Black People in Rural Virginia by Sabrina G. Watson
Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Free Black emigres and the Liberian Experiment by
Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander
Education, Politics, and the Legacy of Free Black Virginians after
Emancipation by Stephen Rockenbach
Afterword
Contributors
Melvin Patrick Ely is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Humanities, History, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA. Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander is professor of History and endowed professor of Virginia Black History and Culture and emeritus director of the Joseph Jenkins Roberts Center at Norfolk State University. Stephen Rockenbach is a professor of History, Interim Chair, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, and assistant Dean of CHSS for Student Affairs, Virginia State University. Sabrina G. Watson is an instructor and doctoral candidate, Department of History and Philosophy, Virginia State University. Evanda S. Watts-Martinez is director of Counseling Services & assistant professor of Education, co-chair, Racial Justice & Equity Task Force, Richard Bland College of William & Mary.
